A personal tale of weddings, “coming out” and arguments over who takes out the bins (trash), The Morning After The Life Before is a theatrical celebration of a profound historical moment when Ireland became the first country, in the world, to support Marriage Equality by popular vote.

3 thoughts on “The Morning After the Life Before”

London Fringe – The Sweetest, Funniest, and Most Uplifting Morning After the Night Before

Often, when it comes to great social issues, we don’t fully understand the importance of what we say and what we do. We vote in isolation — understanding, conceptually, the topic at hand; we choose based on our values and how we define community. But for many of us, the end result is often separated by a degree or so.

For the topic of gay marriage, many of us have friends, family, or colleagues who are gay. Many of us support the cause — or have even been to a few weddings. But for those of us who are not gay, there remains that degree of separation. We can know what’s right; we can know what’s good — but to understand is something different.

LK Theatre’s The Morning After the Life Before tears down that barrier in a production that’s at once funny, sweet, endearing, and heart-wrenching. Ann Blake and Lucia Smyth seamlessly interweave characters, locations, topics, and times in a production that’s a delight to see.

Both characters frequently break the fourth wall — they address the audience, they share production notes and comments, and they compartmentalize the action on the stage. It’s a testament to their skill that they’re able to do so effortlessly — the asides, the conversations with the crowd, and the editing notes are designed to come across as spontaneous, but it’s clear that this duo are well rehearsed and masterful with their timing.

The play “starts” on Sunday, May 24, 2015 — the day after Ireland became the first country by popular vote to allow same-sex marriage. The plot revolves around Blake’s meeting of a woman, embracing her homosexuality, and dealing with a culture — and family — that’s strictly Irish Catholic and tethered to its understanding of what marriage is. Those familiar with the debates that we’ve had over the years in Canada will find parallels to this play: why isn’t a civil union enough, they’re asked; is it right for gay couples to have children?

Beautifully and organically, Blake and Smyth show the reality of their lives — that same-sex couples face the same highs, lows, and mundane arguments that so-called traditional couples. Gently, lovingly, and with a healthy dose of humour, they convey how absurd the idea of preventing any loving couple from getting married truly is.

At the end, Blake lays out why May 24th meant so much. She explained why the morning after the life before was, truly, transformative. It mean that her homeland had embraced a sense of belonging; it means that same-sex couples could feel more confident and safer in their own countries. And it meant a vote for love, empathy, and acceptance.

Blake explains how their lives “got improved forever.” And this production of The Morning After the Life Before is a thank you to Ireland.

It’s one of the finest examples of Fringe theatre I’ve seen and, by the end of the production, it was clearly getting a little dusty in The Arts Project.

The Morning After the Life Before is a sincere and earnest love story to democracy. The performances are endearing in the best way. The social commentary has depth, heart and open-ended questioning. The songs are sweetly sung and the comedic elements are well-timed and at times unexpected. The truth and honesty in this piece is deserving of every standing ovation it gets.

The Morning After the Life Before is an emotionally uplifting and celebratory look at how quickly life can change for the better — and how important being true to yourself and having the support of your community can be.

Anne Blake and Lucia Smyth’s story revolves around the day Ireland became the first country to legalize gay marriage by popular vote. That’s the catalyst, but the story is about so much more than that.

The play begins at the end — Blake is awoken by a text message from her brother checking in on her in what he has dubbed “the morning after the life before.” Quickly, the story brings us to the past, where it all began for Blake.

We see vignettes of stories that show her struggling with being gay and being concerned with how the world around her would react to the news? Eventually, however, she realizes that what she had been looking for all along was to be found in another woman to complete her life.

Smyth helps tell Blake’s story by acting as the other voices in the story. As Blake tries to accept and embrace her own desires, and fulfill what she perceives as her responsibilities as a daughter, a lover, and a citizen of Ireland.

Blake and Smyth’s timing is incredible. The show is upfront in its presentation and owns the fact that it gleefully breaks the fourth wall and makes in-scene editorial comments. Both women have beautiful singing voices and uproariously quick wit.

This show hit home for me, having had my mother “turn” gay when I was growing up, I felt I laughed a little louder than I should have at the bit where Anne is grilled with ridiculous questions regarding her new lifestyle choice. She was able to quickly turn the question back on her friend to make her realize how silly she sounds.

This is such an emotional story and both Blake and Smyth do an outstanding job in telling it.